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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

OAKLAND | MAYOR | Bryan Parker's demeanor is typically business-like. He wears nice suits and often shows polite empathy. But there was a more agitated Bryan Parker on display last Thursday night at the first major Oakland mayoral forum.

The packed house at Temple Sinai was forewarned. During his opening statement Parker alluded to the possibility he might be a lot more animated than usual. The reason for the outrage exuded by Parker may have been due to the subject matter. Thursday’s forum was dedicated solely to public safety. On a personal level, Parker’s sister was murdered by an assailant in 1998.

“I’ve got a city of people like my sister,” Parker said after the nearly three-hour forum. “I see them every day on my walks and it’s not getting any better.” The perception of rising crime in Oakland is seen as Mayor Jean Quan's Achilles Heel and nearly every other challenger's strategy is to use it to trip her up this fall.

But, when asked about the stark change in tone, Parker added he had coffee with an Oakland resident last week, who he says, was robbed by four people last month, with one pointing a gun at her head. “She can’t sleep. She says she can’t return to work,” he said. “People are getting robbed everyday and people are dying, if we’re not urgent about that, if people don’t see we share the pain, we will continue to have no confidence in the city.”

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The Oakland resident Parker had coffee with was traumatized. By violent crime. Since she is likely a reasonably normal adult, she will no doubt work through it and return to living competently. On the other hand the many thousands of very young Oaklanders who have been traumatized over the years by unceasing violence will mostly never develop full competent lives as adults. They fail in school; their dysfunction affects Oakland as a whole; their neglect by city hall is itself criminal and is the prime reason so many Oaklanders remain prisoners of a hostile urban environment.

Bryan Parker's personal story when it comes to crime is touching, and I'm sure he is motivated by his experience. That's obviously a good thing, but what I think he brings to the table is real world management experience that Oakland has been lacking. I wouldn't mind Oakland being ruled by someone that's somewhat of an outsider. Clearly Oakland's track record of being led by politicians hasn't worked out, and I'm up for something new.

I find your language odd. You say Oaklanders are traumatized by "unceasing violence" or by a "hostile urban environment." Why are you distancing yourself from the root problem ? Oaklanders are not traumatized by violence, they're traumatized by violent people. Oaklanders are not traumatized by a hostile urban environment, they're traumatized by hostile people. If you want to fix Oakland, you'll have to fix the people who live there. What do you propose?